Writing aspirations/dreams

Jo Zebedee

Aliens vs Belfast.
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I had a thread like this several years ago, but times have changed and publishing has moved on and I wanted to explore this. I do intend to link this to a blog (I have about 40 replies on Facebook already) so, if you would prefer not to go into the blog, just let me know (not everyone will be named, unless I direct quote).

What's your dream? Awards? Recognition? A particular sales level or a particular outcome?
 
I'd like to be happy and write and have people enjoy it. So many people seem to get agitated by it, or don't have the time, or do it and stare into a void of "Well... maybe someone read it?". If you're writing, and you're enjoying it and your life, and every now and again you can say "Yay! I made a stranger happy" - that to me seems to be all that really matters.

Failing that:

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Good question – and a harder one to answer than I’d thought.

My primary goal is to earn enough from this writing business to live comfortably. If that involves vast sums, so much the better, but just being able to write for a living without worrying about bills would be terrific. After all, it’s what I do best and enjoy the most. As to critical acclaim, I’d like my work to be respected, but I’m not terribly bothered about being seen as avante-garde. If people want to give me the next Hugo, fine, but I think I’d rather have a large body of “casual” readers rather than to be regarded as cutting-edge.
 
To make a living would be amazing, but still a long way off. But so long as I enjoy doing it, and I have ideas that are worth exploring, then I'll keep doing it. I feel weird and grumpy when I'm not doing it, so I suppose remaining sane is a worthwhile and worthy aspiration, especially from my wife's perspective.

Short term, and more tangibly, my direct aspiration is to nab an agent with my next novel and move onto a bigger publishing deal. That seems both challenging but realistic.
 
Ultimately, I am hoping to use this as a side business to generate some additional income, as well as explore some philosophical ideas and hopefully, help people think more fairly toward differing perspectives. To that end, all of my work is somewhat thematic, but some works are designed for exploring ideas, while other works are more for entertainment.
 
For me it's never been about the money (it helps that now I have a job I enjoy and is well-remunerated). I would like to have my work recognized by a reputable publisher and garner positive reviews by critics and readers. In operational terms, I'd say, therefore, that the main objective is to have the publisher beg me to write a sequel.
 
Way back in the 1970's I'd have loved getting paid for this. However, my work was atrocious.
Presently I'm not hungry, so I don't need a lot of cash and I'd love to work toward writing well enough that people can really enjoy the read.
I don't think I'm quite there, so not having a bucket load of fans is alright.
However, the lack of substantial feed back is troubling.

So my present goal is to continue to improve and try to widen my audience and garner enough interest for people to care about leaving feedback of any sort.
 
I'm reasonably happy with what I am writing at present - as in enjoying writing it, liking the world I am creating and I hope it is a competent bit of storytelling. (Yet to be tested on beta readers, so while I think it is the best I've written I might be deluding myself that it is a competently told story.)
However, in my dream world, I'd be writing something in the same ballpark as Ben Aaronvitch and Jasper Fforde. I tried, but it was really, really dire. Something I will prod from time to time. Satirising the modern world while writing a fantasy that is readable in its own right, not just as a satire, requires a lot more skill.
 
I always worry that, one day, I'll run out of ideas. So one of my goals/hopes is that I can continue learning and doing new things and provide new fodder for my imagination. That may seem an odd goal but life can get in the way of even something as simple as that.

I'd also like to be writing in multiple genres. Fantasy and SF are a big part of my reading and writing but the intersection of of science and culture is hugely interesting to me and I'd love to be writing both non-fiction and fiction explorations of that territory.

As for sales, it would be great to make enough money to justify my writing time. I don't expect to rely on writing as my sole source of income and I wouldn't want to completely quit my day job but the best result would be if I could afford to reduce my work load and spend more time writing.
 
I have a need to write something where I can tell myself; "Wow, that's pretty good". I think it's as simple as that. If it turns out I have people agreeing with me, that would be great. I am relatively happy in my work, so I don't need to make money from it. Being a pro writer looks pretty scary from where I'm standing.
 
I had a thread like this several years ago, but times have changed and publishing has moved on and I wanted to explore this. I do intend to link this to a blog (I have about 40 replies on Facebook already) so, if you would prefer not to go into the blog, just let me know (not everyone will be named, unless I direct quote).

What's your dream? Awards? Recognition? A particular sales level or a particular outcome?

I'm attempting to sell my idea to a major TV network. As I do not think I have the writing chops to do this all on my own. :(
 
I have a few:

- To be able write full time (this will happen eventually, but preferably before I retire from my 'real' job)
- To write a bestseller (almost finished my mass market thriller, so there is hope!)
- To adapt my published novel into a TV series (I'm in discussions with a Netflix-affiliated producer, so I can still dream...)

Any or all of those would be fantastic, but I'll keep writing anyway out of sheer enjoyment.
 
As a teen I wanted to be Wikipedia famous, i.e. a Renaissance philosopher or author of some kind.

Now, I want to be as impactful as Dune, but more in regard to being funny, I should probably look more at Sirens of Titan and Hitchhiker's Guide.

Make that money? Yes. But not an incredible amount. Enough to live comfortably.

Famous? Don't care who knows at this point. Maybe when I'm dead. Haha.
 

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